What’s the best way to transport your bikes in a car?
Having the bikes in the car is best as they are out of the weather and away from prying eyes!
We often drive somewhere different for a few days or a week's cycling and the bikes always travel inside the car. However there also has to be room for all our cycling clothing, including helmets, shoes etc, as well as off-bike clothing and, maybe, some food and other stuff.
The system I use, a combination of my own ideas and those of others, means that the bikes can stand upright in the car, keeping them safe from scratches etc. and leaving plenty of room for everything else.
The car has to be a certain size, eg. an estate or largish hatchback. I’ve used an old Mondeo estate, a Skoda Octavia estate and a Peugeuot 3005 hatchback.
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The bikes go in with front wheels and saddles removed. Make sure your seat post is marked with a bit of tape showing saddle height!
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I have made a base board from chipboard which can be secured with the rear seats folded down.
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It has fork mounting points, and straps to secure the rear wheels.
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It’s easiest in most estates as the rear seats often fold to give a completely flat and level surface. This is perfect for the full length base board to sit on.
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In our Peugeuot the load area is level in the boot area but then has a slight slope on the back of the folded rear seats. I put a hinge in the base board so it can follow these contours.
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In some hatchbacks there might be an actual step. Here, the board would have to be in 2 separate parts I think.
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A good way to secure the front section of the board is to make a U bolt from a piece of threaded bar and pass it through the bar in the back of the folded seat designed, I think, to secure a child seat.
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The back part of the board has to be attached with straps to a convenient mounting point.
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Some of our bikes are quick release whilst others have through axles so I had to buy a couple of through axle-to-q/r adaptors.
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The bikes sit “head-to-toe”, and over to one side, with the front wheels sitting between them to save space.
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We throw a black sheet over the bikes if we’re going to be parking overnight. Combined with tinted windows, they’re virtually invisible.
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Clean, undamaged and safe.
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Plenty of room for clothes, spares, tools and some supplies.
